British Politics

A former Ofsted chair has called for education secretary Gavin Williamson’s resignation, amid the continuing lack of certainty over what will replace cancelled GCSEs and A-Levels. In a letter to exams regulator Ofqual yesterday, Williamson said he would like “to explore the possibility of providing externally set tasks or papers, in order that teachers can […]

A man has got a tattoo of Boris Johnson’s face on his stomach in order to raise money for a woman to receive life-saving cancer treatment. Kenny Wilding, 41, from Kidderminster, said he got the tattoo to raise money for a family friend who was diagnosed with stage four rectal cancer in January 2019. Megan Smith […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed fish captured after the Brexit deal came into effect were “British and happier for it”. Rees-Mogg suggested Scottish fishermen should be happy that Britain “got our fish back”, even though many faced financial difficulties caused by stock rotting at British ports due to Brexit-related hold-ups. Responding to the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard’s question on compensating those […]

Katie Hopkins has joined UKIP, the party has confirmed. The right-wing media figure was welcomed by the Eurosceptic party in an announcement on Twitter earlier today. In a video posted on the party’s Facebook page, the 45-year-old said she was joining the group in order to “stand with ordinary Brits”. Hopkins claimed that she “maybe […]

The government has dismissed calls from Labour to publish the economic impact assessment of Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal with the EU. Speaking in the Commons, shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry said: “Over the last two years the government has placed, as the Secretary of State tells us frequently, more than 30 new trade agreements […]

Two of Britain’s most popular cars will cost £1,700 more this year thanks to new post-Brexit tariffs. Ford has increased the price of sport versions of its Fiesta and Puma ranges, which were both made in the EU and exported for sale in the UK. The motoring giant said it was passing on the costs to customers and […]

Liz Truss has been told to “do better” with her answers in the House of Commons as the speaker asked trade ministers to end the “political games” in the chamber. Sir Lindsay Hoyle claimed Truss’ team were giving better answers to Conservative MPs than to opposition MPs over similar questions. At one point the speaker […]

Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots has claimed the region’s hospitals and schools risk running out of food when post-Brexit Irish Sea trade arrangements are fully implemented. A grace period that limits the level of red tape required to move retail food products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland runs out at the end of […]

Miriam Margolyes’ blunt assessment of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson has won her a heap of praise online. The British actor said the US president was an “a*****e” and the British prime minister a “clown”. Asked for her reaction to recent events in the US during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Margolyes said: “Like anybody […]

A government minister has defended Boris Johnson’s record on dealing with the emergence of coronavirus variants around the world – as fears rise over a new Brazilian mutation. Under-secretary of state for safeguarding Victoria Atkins was asked by Sky News’ Niall Paterson why the air corridor between the UK and South America remains open. Atkins […]

A group of Scottish fishermen furious over Brexit red tape has vowed to dump rotting seafood outside Downing Street. Jamie McMillan, boss of the world-renowned Loch Fyne Seafarms, said he would not hesitate to dump rotting stock outside the prime minister’s house if Scottish seafood exports continue to rot at British ports. In a furious video message yesterday, he […]

Despite vowing to make the case against Scottish independence, Nigel Farage’s new party could make it tougher for Unionist parties in the Holyrood elections, a pollster has warned. Professor Sir John Curtice has said the new Reform UK party in Scotland will be targeting Tory voters who backed Brexit in Scotland, making it harder for […]

A fisheries minister has admitted not reading the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels when it was agreed because she was busy organising a Nativity trail. Victoria Prentis faced calls for her to quit after the comments, but the prime minister is standing by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) minister. Asked if her […]

Boris Johnson has suggested he wants more international collaboration on coping with future pandemics after the coronavirus crisis showed they were “totally unprepared”. The prime minister will chair this year’s summit of the G7 group of major economies and wants it to focus on “building back better, together”. He wants to help shape the meeting […]

Boris Johnson defended having a close relationship with Donald Trump, as the US president was on the verge of being impeached for a second time. During an appearance before the Commons liaison committee of senior backbench MPs, Johnson was questioned over his previous praise of the Republican president. Petitions Committee chair Catherine McKinnell asked the […]

The Commons speaker has had to interrupt Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind him to “answer the question” put forward by Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly end this week’s session of PMQs after Boris Johnson gave a long-winded response to the controversy over free school meals parcels. “Mr prime minister,” Sir Lindsay patiently […]

A right-wing commentator has been heavily criticised after agreeing with Nigel Farage’s claim that the UK was turning into the surveillance state that was East Germany. Isabelle Oakeshott praised Farage for highlighting the “brutal authoritarianism” committed by Westminster in the form of national lockdowns prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. In a ten-minute clip posted on his Twitter account, […]

Boris Johnson has been slapped down for a series of “not truths” as he clashed in the Commons with Keir Starmer over Covid-19 and free school meals. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle intervened and forced Johnson to withdraw the remark made at Prime Minister’s Questions, advising both leaders to help in “tidying up how this parliament behaves”. […]

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has called on Twitter to act on Boris Johnson’s “lies” on Twitter – in the same way it acted on Donald Trump’s tweets. Rayner hit out the at the prime minister over his comments on free school meals. Turning to Twitter, the prime minister claimed the government “will do everything […]

Jeremy Corbyn will take the first step towards a High Court battle against Labour next week over his suspension from the parliamentary party. The former opposition leader will have a pre-action disclosure application heard in London on Monday afternoon, court officials told the PA news agency. Lawyers for Corbyn are expected to ask a judge […]

Well, it finally came. For a year speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been tolerating Boris Johnson’s antics in prime minister’s questions – the ignoring of questions, the deliberate misnaming of the third-largest party, the sheer disdain of spending 30 minutes being held to account; 30 minutes which, in happier times, he could have knocked out a half-arsed column […]

A leading DUP Brexiteer has claimed that Boris Johnson has “screwed over” Northern Ireland with Brexit. MP Ian Paisley criticised the prime minister’s comment that empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland are down to “teething problems”. Paisley told MPs: “What did we do? What did we do to members on those benches over there to […]

Boris Johnson has claimed that Marcus Rashford was a better leader at holding the government to account than Sir Keir Starmer, in a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) session which saw the prime minister rebuked for mistruths. Johnson said no one was happy with the images of inadequate school meal parcels that have surfaced over […]

The SNP’s Westminster leader has mocked Boris Johnson for failing to deliver the “sea of opportunity” he promised after Brexit. Ian Blackford raised the case of a constituent, who is a producer and exporter of shellfish, experiencing his “worst nightmare” since the UK’s departure from the EU. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Scottish politician […]

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi has withheld information about the government’s coronavirus jab roll-out programme saying he did not want to “show off” Britain’s programme. Zahawi refused to say just how many doses the UK was receiving from vaccine manufacturers such a Pfizer and AstraZeneca on a weekly basis because it was a matter of “national security”. Appearing […]

Nigel Farage’s new political outfit has received just 2% of support in the first poll carried out since it launched. Reform UK – which has been shortened to REFUK by pollsters – attracted a small amount of support in new polling from Redfield & Wilton Strategies. It is currently attracting smaller backing than the Brexit […]

Tory MP Pauline Latham has downplayed pictures showing meagre free school meals by saying there were only ever intended ‘for lunch’. Appearing on Channel 4 News, the Derbyshire MP said she was appalled by the sight of some portions but sought to dismiss concerns children were not given enough food. “The schools decide whether they want […]

A Tory backbencher has said MPs should be vaccinated against the coronavirus before the rest of the public, arguing parliamentarians needed to “get our democracy back”. Steve Brine, who voted against the second national lockdown in November, said parliamentary staff should be included on the list because Westminster “is a shadow, at best, of itself”. Speaking […]